Rose Hill
by icykisses
Summary: Stranded on the outskirts of Katualia-Luu, Ash and co. must endure several chilling nights in the old hotel on Rose Hill. Horror, romance, and mystery twist together in a spine-tingling adventure as the group experiences the fright of their life. -AAMRN
1. Default Chapter

Some things to consider:

Ages- Ash(15) Misty(15) Brock(17)

This story is rated PG13 for language, violence and very brief sexuality. This is not a lime.

Brock fastened the belt strapped around his lap and reluctantly looked out the window at the cool morning grass that brushed the pavement of the airport's runway, zipping past his sight and getting smaller and farther away. The plane took off into the sky bright, blue sky. Just the thought of leaving the ground and being lifted into the air made him queasy. "Why are we flying to Goldenrod, again?"

The young trainer sitting beside him, his friend, grinned. "What, you aren't scared of heights, are ya?" Brock looked to Ash disbelievingly with a frustrated twitch. "We're flying because it's faster than walking and we need to get to Goldenrod by eleven tomorrow to –" He stopped when Brock blushed, being distractingly aroused by the hot stewardess that strode by their seats, and, annoyed, he waved a hand in front of his face. "Brock? Brock, I'm still talking to you."

"Huh, oh." Brock felt reality snap and latch back onto him like a rubber band. "Sorry." 

Ash sighed and shook his head. The seat in front of Brock jiggled a bit and the girl sitting in it turned halfway around- enough to make good eye contact with Ash. "I don't know," she said, "But I have a bad feeling about this flight…."

"A bad feeling?" Brock asked nervously. 

"What's wrong with the two of you?" Ash asked, "You guys keep freaking out and the plane just took off."

"No one is freaking out." Misty stated. "I just said that I had a bad feeling about this, okay?" 

"Um, miss?"

The 'hot stewardess' stopped by Ash's isled seat. Brock smiled, "Could I get a diet coke with a phone num- err, I mean, lime." She shook her head gently and tucked a strand of loose blonde hair behind her ear. "Yes sir." She said.

"Yeesh… Nice going, Slick." Ash retorted. 

"Well, I'm getting better." Brock said somewhat proudly, yet a little angrily due to Ash's previous statement.

"At least he didn't touch her." Misty said, and turned around to face the front of the plane.

  
A little while later, the blonde stewardess returned with the drink in hand, including the lime and a napkin. She carefully handed it to Brock above where Ash sat. He gratefully took it. "I'm sorry about earlier." He apologized, taking the drink. Ash smiled at Brock's manners towards the girl and her cheeks turned a light pink, barely visible to the two of them.

When she left, something fluttered from an opening of the napkin and landed on his knee. It was a small piece of paper. "What's that?" Ash asked.

  
Brock's heart jumped when he saw the tiny shred of paper in pure hope that it was a phone number. 'It can't be a phone number!' He thought irrationally. But, as his eyes skimmed over the numbers on the paper, his face drew a blank in all realization that it was, indeed, a phone number.

"It's her number isn't it?" Ash smirked. "Well, let's just hope she isn't an escapee from a mental hospital or part of the mafia."

"Ooh," Misty gasped, placing her hand on the glass of the small window, "We're going over the ocean now. Oh, it's so beautiful." She sighed dreamily, her eyes reading the horizon., like staring into the eyes of an old friend. "Wow… look at the sunrise." 

"You make such a big deal out of everything, Mist." Ash said, admiring how she admired the ocean. "Haven't you seen the sun rise hundreds of times, already? I mean, it's still the same, ol.' sun, no matter how you put it."

Annoyed, she pealed her eyes from the ocean view to Ash's grin. Her glare melted, into a small smile and she turned her back to him once again. "Shut up." Ash stifled a chuckle and found it fortunate that he had. "I love doing that to her." He whispered to Brock.

"And I'm surprised she's letting you. You're lucky she's changing, normally you'd be engaged into another hopeless argument by now if she hasn't been crumbling to-."

"Who's crumbling?! C'mere, I'll show you 'crumbling'!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Mist." Ash said, stopping her fist in mid-air. She glared at Ash, once again, annoyed and baring her teeth at him. 'The seclusion is going to kill us all…' He thought nervously. "You won't get too many chances to enjoy that clear sunrise." Her angered look softened a little, but this time she didn't let it go. She tugged her forearm from his grip and settled back down in her seat. 

"Close."

"Yep."

"You know," Brock said quietly this time, "You really have a way with her, lately."

Ash blushed. "Well… I wouldn't really call it-"

Suddenly, the plane jerked to the side, causing everyone to screech. Ash gripped Brocks shoulder and alertly looked around, Brock, on the other hand, gripped the sides of his seat. "What happened?" He asked anxiously.

Again, the plane twisted to the same side. It shook and rumbled a little, getting a good scare out of everyone. The pilot's voice rang from the intercom at the front of the plane. "Attention, everyone. There is nothing to worry about. The winds are changing a little and there is a little turbulence, but-"

"I don't like how he's using the word, 'little'." Misty nervously stated. 

There was a loud BANG! And the plane gave a final lurch to the side. Then, each passenger became glued to the back of their seat as the plane descended, shaking violently on it's way down. Many screamed. Ash's face paled. 

"What's happening?" Misty asked, "We're crashing, aren't we?? I knew it! I knew I've always hated planes! We're all gonna die!"

Ash looked over to Brock. He sat there like a rock, completely emotionless. Then it occurred to him, it must really bite to finally get someone's number, and die the minute afterwards."

The view outside the windows was a total blur. The clouds zipped by. Ash held onto Misty's shaken shoulder through the gap in the two seats in front of him. Worried, she looked back at him as he stared through the gap of the seats. "If we don't live," he said quietly, "..I…I want you to… know-"

Suddenly, a large WOOSH- a blast of air- sent the plane flipping backwards. Confused people went flying from their seats and some rolled into the dirty isles on top of one another. Fortunately, Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu all remained seated. They were wearing seat belts, unlike a few disobedient passengers. The plane continued to descend, but it no longer shook and rattled down into the sea. Again, the pilot's voice croaked out, "We-we're not gonna crash…" Boy, did he sound relieved. As did everyone else. 

Misty jumped out of her seat and headed down the narrow isles with a good amount of stomp in each step. Ash followed after her. 

"Misty, what are you doing?"

"Turbulence my ass!" She shouted. Ash gasped.

"Now, Misty… please don't curse. Calm down, first."

"I almost died because of the idiot in charge of the plane!" 

The blonde stewardess overheard Misty's anger and stepped in front of her. "Miss, please return to your seat."

"I want to speak to the pilot." Misty snarled.

"M'am, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but the cockpit is off limits to the passengers while the plane is in motion. Again, I'm sorry for the inconvenience." 

"C'mon, Mist." Ash started, again placing his hand on her shoulder, "If it makes you feel any better, I'll sit next to you and Pikachu can sit next to Brock." 

Misty turned her back to the stewardess, observing the rest of the passengers' faces. Some were crying out tears of worry, and some were crying tears of happiness. Many couples were telling each other how much they love each other. Everyone was so grateful to be alive. She glanced at Ash and considered his offer… then began walking back to her seat. Ash followed after her and sat in the seat next to her after ushering Pikachu to his new seat. 

"I don't need supervision." Misty said coldly, staring out the window into the sea that was earlier considered as her early grave.

"Maybe not. Maybe I just want to sit next to you."

A short silence passed between the two… 

Suddenly, Misty grabbed onto him and sobbed onto his shirt. Feeling alert and confused, Ash stared down wide-eyed at the girl who suddenly became accustomed to crying out onto his chest. "I-I almost died!!" she sobbed.

Ash blushed feeling her arms pull him to her and he carefully returned the favor. "M-Misty…" 

Just as soon as she had clamped onto him, did she suddenly snap back into her regular position whilst violently pushing him away in the process. Her cheeks reddened as Ash sat back down in his seat from being thrown into the isles. "S-sorry…" She apologized, facing away from him. "I was just—n-nevermind."

Ash began to fan his chest with his shirt, trying to dry the rather large wet spot made of Misty's tears. 

"Due to the fracture in the left wing, we will be making an emergency stop in Katualia-Luu." Announced one of the pilots. 

"Katualia-Luu?" 

**

Landing was horrible. The plane must have spun around twice before running off of the runway and into a building. The large 'Crash!' was the smashing of the lobby that was currently unoccupied due to the airports in Katualia-Luu being closed on Thursdays, for some strange reason… People hurried off of the wreck that was the plane, totally thankful for life.

As Ash, Misty and Brock left the plane, after sliding down the emergency exit, Misty asked, "I wonder what that big wind was that saved us from crashing into the sea."

"Big wind? Well, I guess it's more logical than when I thought it was an unexplainable miracle." Brock said with a shrug. 

"Who knows?" Ash shrugged. Pikachu crawled upon his shoulder. "Maybe we're just lucky." He looked up into the sky, which was only an arrangement of dark clouds filled with warning and mischief. "Well, we are lucky to be alive. I just can't believe we won't be able to get to Goldenrod to get your Togepi back from those tests."

Misty averted her saddened eyes to the ground. "It's okay. As long as Togepi will be safe there."

"Hey guys, I think it's starting to rain." Brock said, holding out a hand that was spotted with tiny raindrops.

They ran to the building by the side of the runway and pulled on the doors, but they wouldn't budge. They were locked tight. Brock looked around for a sight of shelter and he spotted a house in the far distance on a hill wrapped up in a black, iron picket gate. The grass grew long and thin and it shuddered in the breeze like an ocean's waves. It was more like a mansion than it was a house. And something red dotted the walls…

**

"Someone approaches. Quick! Hide the roses!"

Vahna nodded, silently at work as her hands busily plucked each rose from the main hall and slicing at the more stubborn ones with a sharp knife. No thorn tore at her skin, nor did they leave a scratch, yet Vahna gripped them tightly as she threw bushels and bushels out the window into the backyards. They fluttered down to the dirt, landing on old, forbidden stones and becoming harshly glued to the mud. After this, she slammed the window shut with a large "THUD!" and locked the many bolts. 

Suddenly, the loud bonging of a bell rang throughout the house, and she rushed to the door.

**

The group trudged cautiously up the stone path in the drizzling rain toward the large house. Only as they got closer did they realize that the red blotches along the sides of the house were nothing but gardens of roses. 

"There's so many roses." Misty admired. "They're gorgeous."

Ash walked up to the mansion and rang the doorbell, "Maybe this place is a hotel or bed & breakfast of some sort." 

"It is." Brock said, pointing to a sign, "The sign's really worn out, but I assume the place is still in business since the rose gardens are so well tended to."

Misty read the sign, "It says, 'Rose Hill Hotel'. A little hard to read but-"

The door opened with a mysterious creaking of the worn out hinges. There, stood a young, pale girl with long white hair that traveled down the sides of her face. Her eyes were a bright, icy blue and her mouth had been turned downwards into a disturbed frown. Her dress was an ebony black silk that laced together down her chest as well as her forearms, flaring out at her wrists with a cream lace trim and the skirt was totally black that ran past her toes. She blinked and said in a low voice, "Yes?"

"Um… Can… um…"  
  


"…Uh…"

Misty looked to both of her sides at the two boys- each staring blankly at that girl's busty chest which was revealed behind the tight black lace that pulled the two sides of the dress over half of each breast. She sighed and smacked each of them in the face, snapping, or slapping, them back to reality. "I'm sorry." She apologized, "We were looking for a few rooms for the night."

"Rooms? Here?" The girl asked, confused. Had this red-head not heard of the rumors? Of the stories about the Rose Hill Hotel? She smiled and politely bowed her head. "Come right in."

As she opened the door wider, she dropped her hand, the hand that held a rather large knife covered in blood. Misty hadn't noticed it at first, but the skin of her palms were covered with many small cuts. Suddenly she was very unsure of walking into the hotel.

"Is there something wrong?" The pale girl asked. She followed Misty's frightened gaze to the knife in her hand and chuckled nervously. "Oh, I was just, um, tending to the gardens. You don't know how sharp the thorns on those roses can be."

"Oh." Misty sighed with relief, "I see." 

They all entered the old hotel. The girl with white hair flicked a switch near the door and the place suddenly lit up, glistening with beauty. The main hall led to the main room where there were two doors visible that must have led elsewhere. In the main room, there were three large windows on the walls and one huge pane of colored glass on the ceiling. The windows each represented a different mosaic of lively colors and the one on the ceiling presented them with a huge swirling pattern of dark colors, leading up into the stormy skies. All of the furniture was old-fashioned, but beautiful. Ash, Brock, and Misty looked around in awe. 

"It's beautiful." Brock admired the windows in front of him. "But I'll bet this place is expensive."

"Oh, no it is not expensive at all." The stranger said, still in a low tone. "It's practically free since we're shutting down anyways. Besides, a good deed means good karma."

"Shutting down? Why would you do that? It seems that the location and the place are both wonderful; wouldn't you get a lot of customers?" Brock asked.

"I'm afraid not." She said, "It is all because of a rumor that was spread amongst the islands."

Ash laughed, "I'll bet they'd make a great ghost story about this old place."

Misty could barely catch the dark glare coming from the white-haired girl before she smiled and nodded. "You're right." She bowed to her guests. "Welcome to the Rose Hill Hotel. My name is Vahna."

'Vahna… Oh, that name sounds so familiar...' Misty thought, 'where have I heard that name before?'

"This door is forbidden." Vahna said, pointing to the left door in the main room. "It leads to the left side of the building."

"Why is the left side of the building forbidden?" Ash asked.

Vahna cringed. She was hoping that she would have to explain it. "It's just… a bunch of manager stuff. Anyway, the right side of the building holds the rooms, so no one has any reason to go through that door, understand? It is prohibited." 

They nodded. Vahna opened the right door, allowing them entrance. They walked down halls and climbed many stairs before they came to the 'room floors'. 

"There are two floors with fourteen rooms each." Vahna said, "Pick any room you choose, just inform me when you are finished. Now, after dark, the entire household is locked up tight, along with the front gate to avoid any burglars. Breakfast is served at seven, lunch at one, and dinner at eight. And my room is room 237 down this hall to the left, if you need any help. How many nights are you three planning to stay here?"

"Oh, just until we can get a flight out of here. We're trying to get to Goldenrod as soon as possible." Ash said.

"That's fine." Vahna nodded. 

"Let's get our rooms." Misty said excitedly, "I can't wait to see how pretty they are."

"Yeah." Ash agreed. "Wow, twenty-eight rooms… You'll even be able to get your own room, Pikachu."

As they ran off opening various doors and searching the rooms, Vahna smirked as she left down the stairs. 

"Mm… the pure one will taste good."


	2. 2

Ch. 2

A.N//  I cannot tell you who the pure one is!  That would ruin the suspicion.  Um… *ahem*  I vowed no secret spilling.  ^_~  gomen. 

They ran off to find their rooms, opening a door and gaping at the beauty within.  It was like opening a present- you never really know what's inside.  Sure, there's always a dresser, a mirror, a bed, a bathroom, and so on, but each room was special in its own unique way.  Some had their own style and some had their own color coordination and some even had certain 'moods'.  It was like there was a room perfect for everyone.

Misty entered that perfect room of her own: the first door she opened.  It was so glorious with beauty, that it took the cake before there ever was one.

"Wow…"  Was all she could say, greatly admiring the decorations inside.  The room was ebbing with a tranquility only suitable for the godly.

To her right, drapes flew across the room in the breeze from an open terrace with grace, dragging across the carpet with ease.  The bed in the center of the room cloaked in a thick, black comforter that looked soft to the touch.  A quilt of ebony feathers lay draped over the side of the bed.

Misty noticed with curiosity, that the ceiling above the bed was made of trellis, but only above the bed.  For a second, she wondered why, but thought no further of it.

Suddenly, a soft sound came from the side of her room and she froze in panic.  It was a strange voice coming from the inside of her wall...  From her mirror.  The air would suddenly feel chillier than usual.  She felt that feeling deep down in the pit of her stomach- the kind of feeling that made her feel so alone in the room, …but not so alone.

Boldly summoning every drop of courage she could muster, she made her way to the mirror to listen to the voice inside it.  She put her ear up to it, waiting…  

Then, she was attacked.

"AHH!!"

Then, she heard laughing.  Ash's laughing.  It took her a while to notice that Ash was standing above her grinning while she lay on the floor, once cowering in fear below him.  Angrily, she stood and pushed him back through the secret door that he had jumped out of.  "Ash Ketchum!  How dare you scare me like that!  I already thought I was going to die earlier today, do you have to give me a heart attack to finish me off??"

Ash chuckled.  "A secret passageway is only good if you use it to scare people…hey, is this your room?"

Misty looked at him suspiciously, slowly answering, "Yeah…"

He grinned, "Cool.  I guess we share the same bathroom."  He pointed to the door to her left.

She glanced at him nervously, "Your room is next to mine?"  Not the she cared…

"Oh, I wouldn't chose another over that beautiful haven."  He said happily, "You have a terrace.  My room doesn't even have a window."

Suddenly, they heard Brock scream and, without any hesitation, rushed out Misty's door.  Brock came stomping out of a room, shutting the door behind him.  "There's no way I am sharing a bathroom with Pikachu."  He said, "The little rat jumped out of some secret passageway and latched onto my face before I knew what it was.  It scared the hell out of me!"

Pikachu ran merrily out of Brock's room snickering maliciously.  Ash laughed and high-fived his buddy.  "Nice one, Pik!"

"Pika!"

**

"You have done well."

Vahna smiled and clipped the rose's head from its stem.  Blood trickled down the stem.  She grinned and lightly rubbed the healthy rose petals onto the cut on her arm while the stem shriveled and melted into its own little puddle of blood on the ground  beneath her.  "What is your plan for the pure one?  …but his friend-"

"His friends are beneath me!"

The rose petals wilted in her hands, burning into the blood on her skin and she smirked while coldly watching the rose's head shrivel and die in the palm of her hands.

**

Eight o'clock.  Dinner.

"Mist…  Misty, wake up, or you'll miss dinner."

Misty had fallen asleep earlier from being awake since the break of dawn and worrying sick about Togepi.  She lay curled up on top of her bed while Ash, having the advantage of the secret passageway, had snuck into her room to wake her up.  She mumbled something incoherent and rolled to her side to face him.  Her hair had stuck to her face most likely from drool or sweat.

She sat up and the lamp clicked as it flashed into life beside her bed.  "Ash?  What are you doing here?"

"You're late for dinner."

"Oh…"  She said quietly, still drunk on the aftereffects of sleeping, and looked around her room only to conclude that she was on her bed.  "I fell asleep?"

Ash sweatdropped, "Most likely."  He said, wiping away some of the hair that stuck to her cheeks.  "And from the looks of it, you're a drooler."  He laughed.

Misty waved his hand away with an annoyed shrug.  "You drool, too."

"I don't think it's too uncommon for people to drool."  Ash said.  "Now, get up.  I'm hungry and I wanna go eat."

Misty sighed, still tired, and fell back down on her bed.  "I'm too tiiiiired…."  She yawned.  "'I'll just skip dinner."

"You can't leave me to eat by myself in that big, scary dining room!  I'll drag you down there and you can fall asleep on your food."

Misty groaned into her pillow.  She slipped beneath the covers.  "Why can't you go eat with Brock?" 

Ash frowned.  "Hm… I don't think he wants to be disturbed.  You see, there's this 'do not disturb' sign that was provided and…  Well, I just don't think he's hungry right now."

"I don't want to be disturbed right now, either, but that doesn't stop you."

Misty shrieked as the cold air suddenly hit her like a crashing ocean wave and noticed that Ash had flipped the warm comforter off of her, and he had actually picked her up.  

"What are you doing??"  She asked, bewildered in his arms.

It was quite a awkward position…  She can't even remember how long it's been since someone had 'cradled' her like that.

"I told you I'd drag you down there.  What, did you think I was kidding?"

"You don't have to carry me!"  She blushed furiously.

Ash glanced down at her face for a second… and continued walking.  She began to struggle and eventually he let her stand, laughing.

"I will never turn my back on you again."  She said spitefully while straightening out her shirt.  

"Oh, come on, Mist.  I was just kidding."

"But you said you weren't kidding."

"Eh- yeah, I was just kidding about that, too."

She stared at him disbelievingly for a moment.  She hated how his mind worked, sometimes.  But then again…  no-  She shook her head trying to cool her flushing cheeks.  Nervously, she stared at the ground.  "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Pick me up?"

"Oh…"  Ash shrugged, "Actually, I didn't think I could at first.  But after I summed up how scrawny you are and compared it to how long I've been training at the country's finest-"

"I am not scrawny!"  She scowled and looked down at herself.  "I…  -But what about you?  You aren't really Mister Macho Man, either."

"I never said that being scrawny was a bad thing!"  Ash said defensively, "You look good scrawny.  That's just you."

Misty shook her head in disbelief at Ash's comment, still facing the floor.  She muttered something below his range of hearing with a sigh.

"What?"

She made eye contact with him, and sighed, "Nothing."

As Misty began to leave the room, since she was no longer tired due to such a rude and disturbing awakening, Ash tagged along behind her, "What'd you say?"

"I didn't say anything!"

"You did, I heard you!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did!"

Instead of the normal bickering and screeching at each other, their accusations seemed as if they were _attempted _ to sound childish, which only led to laughter among the arguers, calling an unspoken truce as they raced each other to the dining room.

**

A bead of sweat glistened in the dim light as it trailed down the side of Brock's face.  He coughed behind the red scarf that tied his head to the bed post, winding around his mouth with a knot on the backside.  Twisted around his hands and feet were thick, black vines with thorns that threatened to sheathe his skin like a razor's blade.  His eyes caught the little black rose slowly snaking down the bed post, clinging to it's thin, thorn-coated stem, and it brushed against his cheeks.  He cringed at the ambient of the evil presence before him.

"Where," The vaporous entity asked, "is the pure one?"

Brock struggled to break free.  To run from this haunt and avoid any old hotels, provided a safe future.  He tried to say something, but it came out muffled.  The poisonous glare that the villain shot him had struck him right between the eyes- a glare that strung a fear into the very pit of his soul.  His sweaty hands shook against each other.

"Cat got your tongue?"  

The dark veil of vapor subsided revealing…

"Brock!"

"F-Mph-A-MPF!!"

Brock shot up in bed.  Evidently, he had fallen asleep.  And he screamed at the sight of Vahna standing in his doorway-

"Brock?"  She asked, "You missed dinner."

With a clenched jaw, Brock shakily removed the covers.  "I'm sorry."   Brock looked to his window to see if it had been left open while he was asleep.  It wasn't.  So why was it so cold in here?

"It's alright."  She said with a soft smile, "I saved you a plate."  The smile suddenly vanished and she cleared her throat.  She bowed.  When she stood, she was frowning as usual.  "Eat it before it gets cold."  Then, she left.

The cold disappeared when the door shut…

"Must've been a draft."

He walked to the door, but as he was just about to exit, he gasped.  There was a red scarf tied to the bed stand.

**

"I wonder what was with the black rose in my dream.  Why do I feel it's important?"

Brock bumped into Ash on his way to the dining room, shattering his thought in the instant.  He apologized.  "Good night, Ash."

"'Night, Brock!"  He said, walking down the hallway towards the staircase.  He grinned, "Tell Misty to hurry up in there." 

Brock nodded and pushed the double doors open.  The dim and gentle light welcomed him warmly.  Misty was sitting at one end of the table slowly eating her food, bit by bit.  On the other end of the table was what looked like a piglet could wallow happily in.  "Ash says to-"

"I am taking my time."  She interrupted, "I can't just scarf down my food, or else I feel sick before bed."  She placed down her fork and pointed to a covered plate beside her.  "This is your food."

Brock nodded and sat beside her.  The dining room was very large, and he bet that it could produce a booming echo.  "How's your room?"

She smiled up at him.  "Great.  It's… okay.  Actually, I have to share a bathroom with a mankey."

"A mankey??"  Brock chuckled, "Well good luck with that.  At least you're not alone and have someone to run to if you get scared-"

"Scared?  Me?  Ha!"  She laughed, 'But come to think of it...  Ash _is getting kind of strong.  Maybe he could pr—'  She shook her head and stopped herself.  'Can't be thinking of things like that.'  She yawned._

"Tired?"

"Yep.  I don't know why, though.  I just took a nap."  

"Me too,"  That reminded him, "Hey, do you know anything about black roses?" 

"I… know that they symbolized death, I think."  She glanced at his food, "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Oh.  Yeah."  Brock lifted the top to his dinner.

"AAHH!!"

Misty jumped from her chair when Brock tossed the cover of his plate across the room.  She stared confusedly at his food, then at his pale, terrified face.  He was panting with fear.  "What happened??"  She asked worriedly.

"N-nothing…"  He managed to say before fleeing from the room.  Misty pushed her food aside.  

She went to investigate what he had been so terribly terrified about and as she lifted the plate…  There was the roast beef, the potatoes, greens…  'Okaaay…'  She thought, 'Maybe he doesn't like meat, anymore.'  She shrugged.  Brock was acting strange.


	3. 3

Ch.3

Brock panted as he slammed his bedroom door behind him.  He flipped the light switch… but it didn't work.  He tried several more times, but to no avail.  Disappointed, he was about to leave his room to see if the electricity had gone out, but as he was reaching for the doorknob-

"I thought you went to eat."

Brock shrieked and spun around.  Vahna stood in his room holding a newly lit candle.  It provided barely any light, but it was enough to illuminate her frowning face and bare shoulders while casting reflective highlights upon her darkened hair.  He tried to swallow when he realized that her shoulders were definitely bare.

"…Vahna, what are you doing in my room?"

Vahna blinked.  She held up a light bulb in the range of candlelight.  "It blew."  She said in her usual lowly and unaffected tone of voice.

"Oh…  So, you were changing it?"

She shook her head.  "Nope.  There are no more light bulbs, and I can't run to the store because the gate is locked."

This confused Brock.  "Aren't you the manager?  Wouldn't you have the key?"

Vahna could barely hide her smirk, but resisted to grin.  "I lost it."  She lost the key to the front gate??  Gee, some responsible manager, she is.  "You will have to use a candle for tonight."

Brock sighed.  

As Vahna made her way past him and as he walked into the room, she stopped at his doorway, looking over her shoulder, "Don't let anything catch fire,"  she warned.  Lighting flashed through the window, lighting up the room for a second of her time before she left, the thunder booming as the door shut behind her.  

And she was wearing a strapless shirt.

As Brock looked back towards the tall candle she left behind, he noticed that the red scarf that was tied to the bed post… was missing.

**

A chill ran up Misty's spine as the lightning flashed throughout her room, thunder shouting out from the clouds after it. Tiny drops of rain sprinkled inwards through her terrace's open doors and the drapes fluttered wildly in the stormy winds.  She closed the terrace, but something caught her attention.  There were six- no, seven different locks on the doors.  Why hadn't she noticed it before?  

'Why all the locks…?'  Misty wondered.  She looked to the door and, unexpectedly, there was but a single lock that bolted it shut.  'Strange…'

Something red caught her eye.  To her left, was a small vase of roses that sat on a bedside table by her bed.  There were three, small red roses sitting in a little puddle of water.  Now, Misty loved roses.

She picked one up, but as she brought it near her nose, the scent of..  decaying meat wafted unto her face.  She screeched and threw it across the room, coughing uncontrollably for a second while trying to rid her senses of the horrible smell.  When she opened her eyes, the rose that she had mistaken to be sweet was lying on the floor- it's petals swelled up and shriveled brown before her eyes.  The two other roses did the same.  The water that they were sitting in, turned brown, and finally black.  As Misty cautiously lifted a rose from the vase, blood dripped from the steam. 

She couldn't breathe for a second…

So, she waited for the series of horror to end.

And everything went still.  She held her breath, waiting for something to happen next, but the longer she waited, the more alone she felt in the room.  The atmosphere seemed to be thick, but still, with uneventful evil that stood alert around her.

Then, she remembered what Brock had said:

*

"How's your room?"

She smiled up at him.  "Great.  It's… okay.  Actually, I have to share a bathroom with a mankey."

"A mankey??"  Brock chuckled, "Well good luck with that.  At least you're not alone and have someone to run to if you get scared-"

*

"I'm… scared."  Her lips moved, but no voice escaped them.

Then, she ran to the mirror and tried to find where it opened.  Her heart sped with the sudden change of movement and of the anticipation of her decision.  Finally, she felt a small handle on the side of the mirror, and it flipped open at her touch.  She quickly jumped into the next room and slammed the passage behind her.

Ash looked lazily from his pillow as if he had just waken up.  "Mist…?  What are you doing here?"  He looked to the little alarm clock on the bedside stand, "It's after one."

Misty slowly slid down the other mirror behind her and sat on the floor with her head between her hands, letting out a shuddering sigh; letting out all of the bottled up fear she had kept in while she was holding her breath from before.  Ash sat fully up in bed and tossed off the covers.  "You alright?  What happened?"

"Something strange."  She sighed.  "Ash,"  she whispered and looked up at him, "we have to get out of here."

"What do you mean?  This place is great!"  Ash grinned, falling back on the bed.  "And it's free, too."

Misty groaned and sulked.  "I don't care if it's free!  I'm seeing things, Brock's lost it-"

"W-wait, Misty.  You were seeing things?"  Ash asked, jumping off his bed and sitting beside her.  "What did you see?"

"I don't want to talked about it," she sighed, "This place is… not right.  Neither is the manager.  Did you see the blood on her hands and that knife she was holding when she answered the door, when we first came here?"

"Uh…  no.  Must've missed that."

Misty rolled her eyes and nodded quickly, "Oh yeah, I forgot.  You were too busy staring at her breasts."

"I was not!  I was…  admiring her dress!"

"Yeah,"  Misty sneered with a smirk, "Admiring how her dress revealed such a large quantity of cleavage."

"I was not!  Brock was!"

"You both were!  Whatever, I don't care.  What I was trying to say was, no one tends to rose gardens with a knife."

"O-o-oh."  Ash nodded slowly.

They stared at each other for a few seconds…

Ash frowned, "Then, why'd she have a knife?"

"To kill people!"  Misty angered, "Wow, you _are_ thickheaded."

"So… what were you planning to do… y'know… now that you're in my room?"  Ash asked, absently picking at the hem of his jeans as he sat cross-legged in front of her.

"Um… Stay."  Misty said simply.  

Ash gulped at the dry lump in his throat and nodded.  "Okay."   He jumped back into bed, "G'night!"

Misty jumped up.  "Well, where am I supposed to sleep??"

"Uh…"  Ash looked around his room.  There was no couch or anything sleep-able in there.  He shrugged.  "The floor?"

Misty growled and stomped over to his bed.  "Move over!"

Ash obediently did so and Misty slipped into his bed, pulling the covers over her.  She pushed her shoes off and let them drop to the floor from underneath the covers.  After each thud, Ash looked over to see what was going on on the other side of the bed.  When Misty snapped off one of the red suspenders, Ash twitched and blushed, "What are you doing??"

"I'm just getting ready to sleep!"  Misty blushed.  "What do you mean 'what are you doing?'  When I pull my shirt off, then you can worry!"

"Oh!"  Ash laughed, "I thought you--  um.. nevermind.  Good night."

"'Night."  

She pulled her ponytail loose and shook her hair free, also letting her hair tie fall to the small pile of suspenders and shoes beside her on the floor.  Ash looked over his shoulder.

"Don't drool on my bed."

Misty scowled at him and kicked him beneath the sheets.  "Jerk."  She mumbled.

**

Ash sat up immediately, feeling sweat drip down his face.  He urgently looked around the room.  When something soft tickled his cheek, he shrieked and noticed that there was a red scarf tied to his bed post.

Misty awoke from his shriek and worried panting.  Realizing that her friend was awake and frightened she sat up and gripped his arm.  "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."  He shook his head and licked his lips, "Just a nightmare."

Misty's hand traveled from his forearm to his back.  "What happened?"

He looked down at her and sighed.  "A black rose… and Vahna.."

"A black rose??"  Misty gasped, 'Just like Brock.  Only, this time, Vahna's included as well...  Will Ash go crazy like Brock did earlier?'  She had to get his mind off of it before she looses her last grip to sanity in this haunted hotel.  "Ash…"  Misty whispered, gently pushing him down with one hand, "Lay down and go to sleep."  

"But I—"

"Don't worry…"  Misty smiled, wrapping an arm around his torso, "Forget about it." 

Ash blushed.  It was forgotten.  "M-Mist--?"

Misty edged closer to him, burying her nose in the crook of his neck and wrapping one of her legs around his.  She leaned onto him, making him fully aware of her breasts against his chest.  "Sleep now, forget about it."

"O-okay."  Ash croaked, "Um…"

"What's wrong?"  Her eyelashes tickled his cheek, "Not comfy?"

"No!"  Ash jumped, "It's not that!  It's… uh…  nothing, nevermind."

"What is it?"  Misty sat up with a serious look on her face, "What?"  She almost grinned at the sight of how much the poor boy was blushing.  Almost.

"E-eh…  Are--  a-are we going to sleep…  now?"  He stuttered.

Misty's eyes widened for a second.  She nodded quickly.  "Yeah."

"Oh.  Okay…."  When he saw that she wasn't moving from her sitting-upright position, he placed his hand on top of hers, "You can lay back down, now."

Misty chuckled and did so.  Just as she was getting settled on top of him, Ash's door flew open.  

On instinct, both Ash and Misty shrieked at the intrusion, each rolling over a separate side of the bed and landing on the floor- away from each other.

"Oh!"  Brock gasped, "Sorry!  I-I didn't know!"

Ash jumped up from the ground, blushing furiously. "It's not like that!"  

Misty decided to just… lay on the floor, feeling the cool carpet against her burning cheeks.  She eventually sat up, after untangling her legs from the bed sheets, and crawled back into bed while listening to the rest of Ash's and Brock's conversation.

"She was just in here because she was scared."  Ash explained.

Brock nodded.  "Uh-huh, okay, sure."  

"Brock!  I'm telling the truth!"

"What did you want?"  Misty asked Brock.  "It's really early."  Indeed, it was 3AM in the morning.

Brock blushed.  "Uh…  I'm uh…  having trouble sleeping,"  He confessed, "I was wondering if I could sleep in Ash's room for tonight."

Misty sweatdropped.  "In… Ash's room?"

**

So, everyone ended up in Ash's room, sans Pikachu, whom was most likely sleeping soundly among the secret passageways he was recently discovering.  Misty lay on the left side of the bed, Ash in the middle, and Brock lay on the right side, sound asleep.

The sun was just beginning to rise on Katualia-Luu, peaking over the Rose Hill Hotel.  Brock was the first to wake.  And he nearly jumped out of his skin at what he saw-

Ash lay, still in the middle of the bed, but beneath Misty- his arms were wrapped tightly around her and Brock could see that her nose was just below Ash's chin.  And they were still sleeping like rocks.

He decided to sneak out of the room and leave them to their 'business'.  Just before his hand could reach the doorknob, Ash's alarm clock went off.

"BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP-"

Before they woke up, Brock jumped out the door, closing it softly behind him.  Soon after, he heard a loud _bang and the alarm instantly go off, followed by an annoyed groan.  He curiously put his ear up to the door, awaiting to hear the screaming, the fighting, or at least a couple of gasps or explanations…_

But there came…nothing.

He slowly, _slowly_, opened the door and peered inside.

Well, they must have noticed that he had left, because Misty was now laying where Brock was and she and Ash were still wrapped around each other, still asleep.  Fuming, he shut the door.  Slowly, _slowly._

**

As Brock had headed down the staircase for breakfast, _accidentally forgetting to remind his friends, he bumped into Vahna whom was on her way to clean one of the bathrooms.  She almost dropped the large tray of cleaning supplies, but as Brock hurriedly tried to catch them, he tripped and fell- right on top of h er. _

"S-sorry!"  Brock stuttered, sitting up and helping her pick up the scattered cleaning supplies.

Vahna remained on the ground, straightening out her skirt with a light pink blush staining her pale cheeks.  Brock stopped abruptly in his progress when he noticed that Vahna wore one of the old maid's outfits- the kind that one wouldn't usually wear while cleaning, but maybe to a costume party- nowadays, anyway.

"Don't worry about it."  She said calmly, as he handed her the tray of cleaning supplies, "Thanks."  

Vahna was about to climb the stairs when she looked behind her at Brock who was just standing up and dusting himself off.  She reached up for the little red rose behind her ear.  

"Take this,"  she said, shyly handing him the rose, "Don't say anything, just take it."

Brock barely held back a smile and courteously took the rose from her with a nod.  She spun around and headed up the stairs.

Brock examined the rose she had left him.  He smelt it… and it smelled… beautiful.

A/N::  It may seem confusing, but I'll try to update it as soon as possible.  =)  m'kay?  Happy Holidays, everyone!


End file.
